World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz expected that Jannik Sinner wouldn’t play in the Monte Carlo Masters. Sinner recently won the Sunshine Double, winning the Indian Wells for the first time and then backed it with a triumph in the Miami Open.

With only week there between the end of the Miami Open and the start of the Monte Carlo Masters, Alcaraz thought Sinner would skip the ATP 1000 tournament in Monaco as he would want time to prepare for the clay season. However, it wasn’t to be the case.

Furthermore, Jannik Sinner was forced to miss the bulk of the clay-court season in 2025 as he served a three-month ban, and thus, he had very few points to defend.

Alcaraz said in the press conference, “I mean, I just think of a lot of things ahead of like… it feels like we are guessing, the players, which tournament they’re going to play sometimes.

“And obviously he was successful in Indian Wells, Miami, a lot of matches, a long swing, and from the last day in Miami until the first day here is like one week, I would say.

“So you come in from a different time difference. Different surface, different everything. Different balls, so it’s tricky when you don’t have that much time to prepare yourself for another surface, another kind of play, another tournament, another environment, I would say, but you know, it’s up to him obviously, and it’s the decision of every player to go to one tournament or another.

“So if he decides to come here, that means that he feels good physically, he feels good mentally, and he’s excited to come here.”

He added: “But, you know, I was surprised because he has [played] a lot of matches in the last month, playing on hard court and not having that much time to rest and to prepare for clay, but we could see that he’s playing doubles. He played great today, so that means, you know, the great player he is, because he adapts himself really good in such a short period of time to one surface to another.”

Sinner has qualified for the quarterfinals of the ongoing Monte Carlo Masters.